


Get Your Education

by Daisy_Rivers



Series: Meant to Be [8]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, College, F/M, Growing Up Together, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Multi, New Friends, New house, OT3, True Love, trust fund baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 21:08:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18764263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daisy_Rivers/pseuds/Daisy_Rivers
Summary: Alex, John and Eliza go to college, live together, and make new friends. Their parents come to terms with their relationship. John is rich.





	Get Your Education

“Are you sure you don’t want to apply anywhere else?” Catherine asked. “Angelica loves Columbia. It would be so nice if you were both at the same college.”

“I’m sure, Mom,” Eliza replied, her voice a little tired. “We’ve already talked about it. The University of South Carolina is a great school, and they have a really outstanding school of social work.”

“You’re not even applying to a back-up school,” Philip pointed out.

“I’ll get in.” Eliza was at the top of her class, was vice-president of the student government, and had volunteered every Saturday morning at a homeless shelter in Albany.

“And it’s where Alex and John are going,” Catherine said quietly.

Eliza looked up. “Yes.”

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Then Philip said, “Maybe we should talk about that.”

Eliza was prepared for that. She’d been prepared for it any time over the past four or five years, but her parents had never broached the subject. She smiled faintly. “Yes, I want to go to South Carolina because that’s where Alex and John will be. Yes, I want to be with them. We all want to be together. We always have.” She searched her parents’ faces for a clue to what they were thinking. “You can’t possibly be surprised.”

Catherine looked at her lovely daughter, who was such a mystery to her. “For a long time, we thought you might outgrow it,” she said softly.

Eliza shook her head. “That was never going to happen.”

Philip took his wife’s hand. “Eliza, there will be difficulties ahead for you that you can’t possibly foresee now.”

“That’s true about everybody’s life,” Eliza responded.

Philip nodded. She was right. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked her.

Eliza smiled at him through tears. “As sure as I am that I need air and water.”

*          *          *          *          *

For their freshman year, they were required to live on campus. John and Alex managed to room together and complained that the university only allowed single beds. Eliza’s dorm was on the other side of campus, but they made do. They all made Dean’s List, and two of John’s drawings were selected for the spring art show.

When they returned as sophomores, they rented a two-bedroom apartment a few blocks from campus. The small second bedroom became their computer room and study. The larger bedroom was big enough for a king size bed.

“Finally,” John said on their first night in it. He reached across Eliza to pull Alex closer. His voice was tight with unshed tears. “We waited so long.”

Alex propped himself up to kiss John, then kissed Eliza. “We actually live together. We’ll always live together now.”

Eliza was crying openly. “This is where I belong. This is where I’ve wanted to be since I was six years old.”

Their parents’ fears that their intense relationship kept them from forming other friendships turned out to be unfounded. Living together meant that they didn’t need to put all their time and energy into figuring out ways to be with each other, and they were able to relax. If one of them spent time hanging out or going to a movie with a friend, it was never a problem because every night they came home to one another. They started socializing more and inviting friends over. John got to know a fellow art major with the improbable name of Hercules Mulligan (“Call me Herc”) who was studying textile design and, like John, always had a sketchbook with him. Herc brought along his roommate, a tall pre-med student who didn’t know many people because he had recently arrived from France. He still struggled with English but made up for his lack of conversation with a charming smile. Nobody could pronounce his name correctly, so he told them to call him Gil.

Eliza became acquainted with a young woman from New Jersey who was in her psychology class. Theo Bartow was whip-smart and quite outspoken, and she and Eliza had a lot in common. She introduced Eliza, John, and Alex to her boyfriend Aaron Burr, a pre-law major like Alex. Aaron was quieter than Theo _(“Everybody’s_ quieter than Theo,” John said), but he got along with all of them.

None of their new friends questioned their relationship or their living arrangement. They watched Netflix, ate pizza, and discussed families, politics, and classes just like everybody else.

John turned twenty-one in October of their junior year, and his father informed him that he now had control of the trust fund established by his grandfather. John knew his father had a successful business, and money had never been a problem, but he was only vaguely aware of the existence of the fortunes his grandfather and great-grandfather had made. Henry sat down with him and Oliver Wolcott, their financial advisor, to go over the portfolio.

“Holy shit,” John said, looking at the total.

Henry chuckled. “You won’t have to worry about money if you make even a minimal effort to stay within a budget. I thought you might want to consider buying a house in Columbia. It’s a good investment, and you can rent it out or sell it later if you like. It makes more sense than continuing to pay rent to somebody else.”

“Your father’s right,” Mr. Wolcott agreed. “It would be a solid investment.”

John thought about it. “I don’t know. I always planned to buy a house at the beach.”

“You know,” Henry Laurens said, his voice deliberately casual, “you have another year and a half until you graduate. And then, Eliza will have an additional year for her master’s in social work, and Alex will have three years of law school.”

John looked directly at his father, not sure how to respond. They’d never discussed it.

“Assuming,” Henry went on, “you’ll continue the same … erm … living arrangements.”

“Yeah,” John said, “we will.”

Henry smiled faintly. “I’m not blind, son.”

Mr. Wolcott had no idea what they were talking about, so he seized on a topic he did understand, real estate. “There’s no economic reason why you can’t buy both a house in town and a beach house,” he said. “You can rent the beach house out when you’re not using it.”

John leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his face. “Looks like I’m going to buy a couple of houses.”

They found a charming 1930’s bungalow a few blocks off campus. It needed paint and a few repairs, but it had three bedrooms and two baths, and Eliza fell in love with the fireplace. They moved in before the second semester started.

“Look at us,” John said, sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on an ottoman, “being all adult and stuff.”

Eliza had her head in his lap, and Alex was curled up next to him with a book in his hands. He put the book on the end table and turned John’s face toward him. “We’re doing okay, aren’t we?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah, we are,” John said. “It feels so … comfortable.”

“We waited a long time,” Eliza reminded him.

He ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re so pretty.” He put an arm around Alex and pulled him in. “How am I so lucky?”

Alex leaned over to kiss him. “We’re all lucky. We have the life we want. How many people can say that, especially at our age?”

“It’s because we always knew,” Eliza said. “We didn’t have to go through all the dating stuff and figuring out who we wanted to be with. I’ve seen it with Angelica and now Peggy, and, oh, my God, the _drama._ No, thank you!”

“How come we don’t fight?” Alex asked thoughtfully.

John smiled. “What’s to fight about? I mean, really, people fight about the dumbest stuff – what to have for dinner or what color to paint the bathroom or whether to get a cat. I can’t see us getting mad at each other like that.”

“We never fought,” Eliza reminded him. “When we were little, we just figured everything out together. It never changed.” She frowned. “I mean, I love Theo, but she and Aaron just had this huge argument over who was supposed to put gas in the car. She actually said, ‘It was his turn, and I’ll be damned if I let him off for it.’ How does that even make sense?”

“What a waste of time,” Alex said. “Who finally put gas in the car?”

“I have no idea. Last I heard, the car was sitting in the driveway and they were both still mad.” Eliza waved her hand. “I figure I’ll wait a few days before I call.”

John, one hand on Alex’s shoulder and the other playing with Eliza’s hair, was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for the life they had and for the unbreakable bond that dismissed trivial things like whose turn it was to do something. They’d never thought like that; they just did what needed to be done as it came up, and somehow, it all worked, and there was nothing to fight about. He turned to kiss Alex and then bent down to kiss Eliza. “I think we’re magical,” he said.

*          *          *          *          *

Buying a beach house was a little more difficult than buying a house in town because it was nearly a three-hour drive. They arranged to look at houses during spring break. Catherine and Philip were a little disappointed that Eliza wouldn’t be home, but they were realistic enough to know she was planning her own future. John had given the realtor a list of requirements for the beach house; it had to have two stories and a balcony, and the ocean had to be visible from the second floor. Beach property wasn’t cheap, but as John sensibly pointed out, he could buy half a dozen beach houses if he wanted to without putting much of a dent in his trust fund. They found one less than a mile from their parents’ homes, white with yellow shutters, a balcony off the master bedroom, and a big terrace off the kitchen. “We should get a grill,” John said, looking around. “We can have parties.”

Eliza gazed at the ocean, smiling. “We’ll be here every summer. Our kids will grow up here.”

Alex had his arm around her. “Do you think they’ll love the beach the way we do?”

“Of course they will. How could they not?” She looked thoughtfully from Alex to John. “Will we stay here this summer?” They’d been living together for three years in Columbia, but it would seem strange to live together so close to where their parents lived.

John laughed, “Well I, for one, am not planning on going back to live at my dad’s. Come on, this is our house. Ours. Of course we’re going to live here.”

They did, and they spent weekends there whenever they could during their senior year. Graduation would be the second week of May, so weekend before, after exams were over, they made the drive to the beach house to relax for a couple of days.

“Full moon tonight,” John said, as they sat on the terrace after dinner. “Let’s go watch it come up.”

They grabbed a blanket and held hands as they climbed over the dunes, as they had for sixteen years. _Sixteen years,_ Eliza thought. _Sixteen years we’ve loved each other, and yet it feels like everything is beginning._

They spread the blanket on the sand and sat close together. After a few minutes, Eliza lay down with her head in Alex’s lap. John got up and moved to Alex’s other side and lifted her so that she could lie across both of them. “Comfortable?” he asked softly.

She snuggled against them. “It’s perfect,” she said.

It was Alex who pulled her shirt off, and John who unhooked her bra, and as her boys touched her and stroked her and kissed her, the moon rose like a bowl of liquid silver spilling out across the waves. “Look how beautiful,” she whispered.

“So beautiful,” John said, kissing her.

“The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Alex agreed, his hand gliding over her breast. She arched up to him, and he lifted her to hold her between him and John. He looked at John over her head, and John nodded, smiling. “We want to ask you something, babygirl,” he said.

She looked up at him, her face a little drowsy from arousal, her lips parted. “What?”

They each took one of her hands, but it was Alex who spoke. “We decided a long time ago how we were going to do this, but it’s always been the three of us, and it always will be.”

“Yes.” There was no question about that.

Alex smiled. “But just to make it official, will you marry us?”

She threw her arms around him. “Of course I will!” She turned to John. “I love you!”

John grinned. “I’m going to get credit for the proposal, so I thought it was only fair that Alex be the one to actually ask.” He reached into his pocket. “We have a ring for you, sweetheart.” He pulled out the box and opened it to reveal a diamond solitaire in white gold. “Look.” He turned on his phone flashlight so she could see it clearly, and showed her that inside the ring were their initials: JL, AH, ES. He reached for Alex’s hand, and together they slid the ring on her finger.

“I’m so happy,” Eliza said through tears. “I love you both so much.” She lay down on the blanket and pulled both of her boys to her in the moonlight.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Oliver Wolcott was the second Secretary of the Treasury after Alexander Hamilton, so I let him be a financial advisor here.  
> Note for my non-US readers: Columbia University is an Ivy-League University in New York City. The University of South Carolina is a state university in the city of Columbia, South Carolina, more than 700 miles away. The city of Columbia and Columbia University are totally unrelated to each other and the fact that they have the same name is purely coincidental. The historical John Laurens was from Charleston, South Carolina; the historical Alexander Hamilton went to Columbia University.  
> As far as I know, there was no actual plan to confuse the hell out of people with the identical names all over the place, but I had nothing to do with it.  
> Henry Laurens is a nice guy in this story; that's difficult for me because I have a deep-seated antipathy to the real Henry Laurens who made his fortune (and a huge fortune it was) buying and selling human beings. However, this is a short series, and I don't want to deal with all that here. If you want to know what I REALLY think of Henry Laurens, read "I Like You a Lot" and "Provoke Outrage."  
> Many, many thanks for all the kudos and comments. I love hearing what you think about the story and our trio. <3 <3 <3


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